Page 55 - KDU INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE

KDU International Journal of Criminal Justice (KDUIJCJ)
Volume I | Issue II| July 2024

freedom and responsibility, which is an essential part of the development
of the adolescent (Casey and Caudle,2013).

3.1. Statutory Rape in Sri Lanka

The law in relation to statutory rape has been incorporated and applied
to our legal system from the English common law system, which
mentioned that “it is illegal to ravish with or without her consent, a
maiden under the age of twelve years” (Donoven, 1996). Act No 22 of
1995 to the Penal Code of Sri Lanka has introduced “statutory rape” as
another sexual offence against women under 16 years of age. Section 363
(e ) of the Penal Code has declared that "a man engages in sexual
intercourse with a woman with or without her consent when she is under
sixteen years of age unless the woman is his wife who is over twelve years
of age and is not judicially separated from the man".

Section 364(2)(e ) of the Penal Code has declared that “Whoever commits
rape on a woman under eighteen years of age shall be punished with

rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than ten years and not
exceeding twenty years and with fine and shall be ordered to pay
compensation”. Section 364 (1) has enunciated the punishment for the
offence of rape as follows “whoever commits the rape shall be punished
with rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than seven years and not
exceeding twenty years with fine and compensation”.

While studying section 363 (e), 364 (1) reading with 364(2) (e ), it could
be identified that when somebody had sexual intercourse with a girl who
is less than 16 years of age with or without her consent, a minimum
mandatory imprisonment term of 10 years shall be imposed by the
legislature to the offender. Moreover, if the rape victim is a woman under
16 years of age, the suspect cannot apply the defence of “consent” under
the offence of "statutory rape" in Sri Lanka. According to the Explanatory
Note on the sentencing policy of Law Commission of Sri Lanka, some
foreign jurisdictions and states do not punish those under the age of
consent to engage in a consensual sexual relationship if their age gap is
close (generally three years of gap). These exceptions are named “Close
in age exemptions” or “Romeo-Juliet exemption clause”.

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